Fearless Creative Leadership

A five minute edited highlight of our full length conversation.

"The Simplifier."   Emma Cookson has been able to filter the noise for brands and businesses throughout her career. She is regarded as one of the world's foremost brand strategists, taking over the role of Global Head of Strategic Planning at BBH before becoming CEO and then Chairman of BBH, New York.   Today she is a partner at You and Mr Jones, the disruptive company designed to build brands by combining marketing and technology expertise.   I talked to Emma about how she turned an Oxford university english literature degree into a career in advertising, about her unique definition of a brand and about her personal desire for global domination.   For more information: www.FearlessCreativeLeadership.com www.youandmrjones.com

A five minute highlight of our full conversation.

"The Story Teller."   Joanna Coles has been finding and telling stories since she was a young girl. She has been a writer, a publisher, a salesperson, a journalist, a reporter, an editor, an author and on-camera talent in a reality-tv show.   She’s an original thinker, a ground breaker, a glass ceiling raiser, a mentor, and a reference point. She’s also the inspiration for a new tv show based largely on her life.   She has worked for some of the world’s most iconic publications. The Spectator, The Guardian, The Times of London, and she has been the editor of Marie Claire and of Cosmo. And a year ago she was named Chief Content officer for Hearst Magazines.  I talked to Joanna about her early lessons as a very young writer, about how a double murder changed the course of her career, and about her correspondence with the Queen.   For more information: www.FearlessCreativeLeadership.com

A five-minute highlight of our full conversation

'The Chef'. Dan Kish knows more about food than anyone I’ve ever met. He has been an entrepreneurial chef, a teacher and an executive. He has always been a student. A few months ago he left his position as Head Chef at Panera Bread where he was responsible for developing the menu for 2000 restaurants across America to become a consultant. Over the last few years, he has met with the world’s greatest chefs, learned how to predict the date an Avocado will turn ripe and sourced suppliers capable of providing hundreds of thousands of pounds of antibiotic-free turkey.  He understands the growing conditions, the harvesting practices, the shipping methodologies, the preparation techniques, the chemistry of, the cooking of and the delivery of food that tastes like a memory and is good for you. Dan is the embodiment of someone in flow with their work. Someone able to unlock their own creativity and the creativity of others, every day. For more information: www.FearlessCreativeLeadership.com

A five minute edited highlight of our full conversation

"The New Leaders."   To be a successful creative leader, you need to be able to celebrate an environment that revels in the chaos of original thinking and behavior, and from that produce the reliable performance required of any business.   And sometimes, it requires doing that when your only experience of leading an actual business is none at all. When your success has been based on your capacity to break all the rules and change the expectations.   One day you’re throwing tea into the Harbour. The next you’re sitting on a throne with a crown on your head. At that point, the fact that it’s heavy is not your greatest  problem. Your greatest problem is the fact that everyone is staring at you expectantly.   Jason Bagley and Eric Baldwin, are the ECD’s of Wieden + Kennedy, Portland. As creative partners, they were responsible for one of the most iconic advertising campaigns of the last decade - Old Spice’s, "the man your man could smell like. Between them, they have almost 25 years of experience at the agency.   I spoke to them about what makes Wieden + Kennedy a relentless creative force, about how they're leading the Portland office through its own transformation and about the adjustments they have had to make now that they have become the leaders. For more information: Wieden+Kennedy www.FearlessCreativeLeadership.com  

A five minute edited highlight of our full conversation.

"The Equalizer."   Shelley Zalis has made the business of equality the focus of this stage of her life and career. A successful entrepreneur in her own right, she founded the Girl’s Lounge to provide professional women a place to get together at major conferences and support and learn about each other. From that platform, she has now built the Female Quotient - an organization dedicated to driving equality in the workplace.  She is an evangelist, a disruptive force, a community builder and a change agent. She is also putting her money where her beliefs are. I talked to Shelley about the role her childhood played in her becoming a disruptor, about why she decided to make gender equality her business, about what needs to happen next and about the moment she wondered if it was all over. For More Information: www.TheFemaleQuotient.com www.FearlessCreativeLeadership.com